Published Jul 27, 2026 | 1:09 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 27, 2026 | 1:56 PM
Neha Bora was one of the key protesters at Jantar Mantar.
Synopsis: 100s of protesters being kept in jail and Muslims being selectively targeted, All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora alleged. This as a video of a policeman firing from an AK-47 in Bihar went viral. Rahul Gandhi condemned the firing, the use of pellet guns and the attack on students while the Chief Justice of India upheld the right to peaceful protests at the Supreme Court.
A witch-hunt is on in Bihar and Bengal against those who protested the exam leaks, alleged Neha Bora, All India Students’ Association president and one of the most notable faces at the Jantar Mantar protests.
Neha, who had gone on hunger strike with Sonam Wangchuk for 20 days at the protest site, shared this in a video published on social media.
“While we are celebrating the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, a witch-hunt is underway across the country against those who were part of the movements against paper leaks,” she said.
“In Bihar, along with Paliganj MLA Sandeep Saurav, AISA activist comrades Dhananjay, Dipankar, Sabha, and Divyam have been locked up in Beur Jail for about three days. More than nine cases have been filed against them, including an attempt to murder charge. All these fake cases are being slapped based on a single day’s protest. Reports are coming in that more than 100 protesters are still locked up in various jails across Bihar.
“Other reports are coming from Bengal, where around 14 students have been jailed for protesting against paper leaks. A majority of these protesters are Muslim students. Suvendu Adhikari, Chief Minister of Bengal, has declared that similar cases will now be filed against 70 more people,” she added.
Neha underlined that these arrests were emblematic of the government breaking the promise to the Cockroach Janta Party interlocutors that “no action will be taken against any protester”.
She said that she was heading to Patna on Tuesday to meet the students locked up in Beur jail and other protesters lathi-charged by the cops.
Her statement came on a day when a video of a cop in Bihar shooting at student protesters with an AK-47 on July 25 went viral. Three of the protesters were injured but reported to be stable. Former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, was among those who demanded strict action. Bihar Police has now released a statement saying that they have taken “serious note” of the incident and suspended the policeman.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi termed the government a “liar” while condemning the incident.
“News is coming in that protesting students in Bihar have been shot at with AK-47 rifles, and hundreds of students are being arrested and slapped with FIRs. Modi Ji, where has your promise gone that no FIRs would be filed against students and they would be released? Instead, deadly attacks and brutality are being unleashed on them. Pellet guns were used against students in Delhi and AK-47s in Bihar. Whether it is Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, or Delhi—the pattern is the same everywhere,” he posted.
“I have said it before, this government is a liar. Reforms are beyond their capability. They will back away from their words and use every trick in the book to suppress the voice of students. Modi Ji, apologise to the students of the country. And take action against those who attacked and crushed the students, not against the students,” Rahul went on to add.
Meanwhile, Live Law reported the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, as stating that peaceful and lawful protests were constitutionally protected and should not be met with a lathi-charge. The Chief Justice made the observation when there was mention of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Professor Manoj Kumar Jha’s plea on the use of force, including an AK-47, during the protests in Bihar.
“Right to peaceful, lawful protest is guaranteed under the Constitution. So long as it is a peaceful agitation, merely because there is agitation, there can’t be [excess]…If there is excess committed, it should be independently examined. It’s not only a case of Delhi. Uniformity in protocol required. Merely because (an) agitation is there, doesn’t mean lathi-charge. Discipline is integral to the democratic process,” he was quoted as observing.
The Chief Justice was also quoted as saying that “Police excesses must be inquired into” and that governments must let the Court know why “adequate gears were not provided to police who were injured in protests.”
Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana will hear Professor Jha’s plea on Tuesday.
Sonam Wangchuk, whose removal from the site of his hunger strike by Delhi Police had given the protest increased momentum, has been discharged from the hospital.
“I will be going to Rajghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and then back to the mountains (in Ladakh),” he posted in a video.
His statement came a few hours after Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha posted a five-and-a-half-minute clip of Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, calling for the removal of “secular” from the Constitution, while endorsing the “Hindu Rashtra” and rejecting the Aryan Invasion Theory on Subramanian Swamy’s YouTube channel.
In London, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joined a solidarity protest.
“The Indian student protests are making us all proud, and they give us hope. They show what we can accomplish when people come together and resist. They show the true meaning of who we are. The Indian students struggle for justice, and the broader struggle for democracy
and liberation is also our struggle. So we all have to come together now and rise in solidarity with India. I am proud to stand alongside you. Power to the people,” she said.
(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
